Covid-19 is continuing to rip through countries around the world, as a recent spike in global cases highlights the pandemic is far from over.
The highly-transmissible Omicron variant and its cousin the B.A.2 subvariant, along with fewer Covid restrictions, have led to the uptick in cases, with nations that had once successfully eliminated the virus now facing unprecedented Covid waves.
Restrictions have come back in Hong Kong as the city surpassed one million cases in the pandemic this week, despite only recording single-digit daily case numbers for the majority of the pandemic.
"There's a lot of people working from home, a lot of restaurants have to close after 6pm, restrictions on gatherings, so you can only have two people in a group. Any more than that and you can have a fine of several thousand dollars," Kiwi ex-pat Will Hayward told 1News from Hong Kong.
"People are very anxious for their loved ones. A lot of them have elderly relatives who are not yet vaccinated."
Hong Kong is not the only place seeing a spike in cases. South Korea, Vietnam, China, Singapore and Thailand are all on the rise too.
Epidemiologist Michael Baker said it could be a sign of what is to come in New Zealand.
"I think the big message is, we should expect resurgences in the virus," Baker told 1News.
"We should be planning how we are going to manage that resurgence, and not just relaxing everything at this stage."
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